


Spellbound

by SEMellark



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SEMellark/pseuds/SEMellark
Summary: Tetsurou laughs, but it sounds vaguely hysterical, so Koutarou is immediately on edge. “Low level shit likehealing potionsdon’t taste like much of anything. Oh my god, Bo, you just gave Akaashi a love potion.”“What? No, I didn’t!” Koutarou is almost certain his best friend is just messing around with him, but… “I gave him the red one. Your mom always gave us those when we got sick as kids!”“Um,no,her medical potions are orange, not red. Red means heavy-duty shit. Red meansaltering human consciousness.”





	Spellbound

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a tumblr post that I can't even link because I saw it soooo long ago.

“Okay, so how about this?” Tetsurou says, reappearing from the stock room with a large box in his arms. “Death by feral werewolf or death by mermaid?”

Seated just behind the register, Koutarou frowns, twirling a pen between his fingers. “Uh, feral werewolf. I guess.”

“Wrong answer,” Tetsurou grunts, setting the box down a stool and ripping the top open. It’s the latest shipment of tarot cards, Koutarou realizes, which have been oddly popular since the start of winter. “No way in hell would being ripped apart by a werewolf be more pleasant.”

“It would be if you’re afraid of drowning,” Kenma says near the front of the shop, where he’s curled up in an armchair with his phone in hand. He only comes in on the days Koutarou and Tetsurou are working, tucked away within the shelves of spell books. “Which is, you know. A mermaid’s preferred hunting method.”

Koutarou’s head bobs eagerly in agreement, beaming in triumph when Tetsurou scowls in his direction. It’s always a small victory when Kenma sides with one over the other. Normally he just doesn’t get involved. “But, Kenma,” Tetsurou says, placing the packs of tarot cards one after another on the shelf, “wouldn’t you rather pass into the next life under a spell and in the arms of a nice looking woman?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be with Shouyou.”

“Okay, fair.”

“Would their songs even work on us?” Koutarou asks, though he isn’t paying much attention to the conversation anymore, instead watching the people outside as they pass by the shop’s front window. “Since we’re not attracted to girls?”

“Not even remotely how that works,” Kenma sighs.

Tetsurou pulls up short, staring over at Koutarou with his mouth half open. “Well… damn. Maybe it’d work on me, but probably not you and Kenma. So, you better step up and save my ass if I ever get lured into a sketchy lake.”

“I’d never forgive myself if I let you die like that!” Koutarou exclaims, horrified, almost choked up at the mere thought of letting his best friend meet his end within the clutches of a siren.

“Then we’re all good,” Tetsurou laughs, glancing forwards the front of the stop when the bell chimes. The door is hidden behind a bookshelf, so Koutarou can’t see who’s coming in. “But I still say death by feral werewolf is worse.”

“You’re just saying that because you hate dogs,” a new voice pipes up, and Tsukishima appears from around the bookshelf, blowing warm air into the curve of his clasped palms. Koutarou and Tetsurou both perk up almost instantly, though in Koutarou’s case, it’s because Akaashi is following right behind Tsukishima.

“Tsukki!” Tetsurou cries, abandoning the tarot cards. “Quick, help me settle this.”

Tsukishima heaves a sigh, glancing over at Kenma, who’s looking up from his phone for the first time in maybe an hour. The two of them share a look that speaks of true suffering.

Koutarou focuses on catching Akaashi’s eye, and his insides feel like they may explode as Akaashi approaches the register, expression unreadable what with most of his face covered by a woolen scarf.

“He’d rather die in the arms of a murderous mermaid over a feral werewolf,” Kenma explains. “Because they’re hot. Or something.”

“Not that you aren’t,” Tetsurou is quick to say, fixing Tsukishima with an imploring look as he opens his arms wide for, presumably, a hug. “Hot, that is. Because I’d rather meet my end in your loving arms, of course.”

“Yeah, you just might,” Tsukishima replies, but he steps into the fold of Tetsurou’s arms anyway, returning the embrace.

“What are you guys doing here?” Koutarou asks Akaashi. “I thought you were going to that Familiars seminar.”

“We were,” Akaashi replies, and although his voice is mostly muffled by his scarf, Koutarou can still tell that something is off, “but it was canceled.”

“Bad weather?” Kenma inquires, to which Tsukishima replies, “The presenter couldn’t make it. There was a… dragon incident on the skyway. Don’t ask.”

Normally Koutarou _would_ ask, because hello, dragons are fucking awesome, but his focus is solely on Akaashi. “Are you feeling okay?” He asks. “Your voice sounds weird.”

Akaashi reaches up and pulls the scarf away from his mouth. “It’s just a little cold,” he says, but the nasal quality to his voice is much more apparent now. “Nothing to worry about.”

Koutarou stares at him incredulously. Akaashi _never_ gets sick. And even if did, he wouldn’t admit to it, because Akaashi doesn’t like people fussing over him. If he’s going so far as to say it outright, then he must be completely miserable.

“We have stuff for that,” Koutarou says, nearly leaning over the counter in his eagerness to help. “Like potions. For colds. All kinds of things, really!”

“You know I have a high magic tolerance, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi replies, nose wrinkling in barely concealed distaste, which is really adorable – but mostly distracting – and _not_ what Koutarou needs right now. “I’d rather get cough syrup from the market.”

Tetsurou pulls himself out of Tsukishima’s orbit enough to say, “Um, bite your tongue, my mom brews those herself. And take it from someone who’s had them, those things are strong as fuck and _way_ better than your run-of-the-mill cough medicine.”

“They’re totally safe, I promise!” Akaashi still seems dubious, and Koutarou would just let the matter drop if he weren’t so worried. Akaashi should be at home resting, but instead he’s out and about in the cold. Akaashi has always been a bit of a busybody, so if he won’t take care of this cold before it becomes worse, then Koutarou will. “Do you really think I’d give you something bad, Akaashi?”

“Not on purpose,” Akaashi mumbles, but he continues before Koutarou can decide if he’s supposed to feel insulted or not. “Alright, if you really think one of those potions would work on me, then I’ll take it. How much are they?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tetsurou says as Koutarou jogs into the back room where his friend’s mother does most of her brewing. The bottles haven’t been brought out for labeling yet but Koutarou remembers being given the red vials as a kid when he was sick. “I’ll just take it out of Koutarou’s paycheck since he’s basically shoving it down your throat.”

Akaashi makes some vague noise of protest, but Koutarou has already come back to the front and isn’t having any of it. “It’s fine, Akaashi,” he says as sincerely as he can, sliding the bottle across the counter. “It’s totally worth it if you feel better.”

“Gag me,” Tsukishima grumbles, and Tetsurou’s mouth quivers as he tries to keep a straight face under the pressure of whatever perverted thought is probably going through his head.

Koutarou watches with a keen eye as Akaashi downs the vial with minimal hesitation, and while the way his expression twists is kind of hilarious, it’s also... not totally expected. Koutarou can’t recall those things tasting _that_ bad. “Oh, wow.” Akaashi screws his eyes shut and shakes his head. “I thought you said these were better than normal cough syrup?”

“Better in the sense that they work super quickly,” Tetsurou replies, eyebrows knitted together as he glances from Akaashi to the bottle in his hand and then back again. “At the expense of your taste buds, I guess.”

“You should feel better by tomorrow,” Koutarou says. “You’ll be glad you took it, I promise.”

Akaashi shrugs. “I guess we’ll see.”

He and Tsukishima don’t stay for much longer. Tsukishima has classes, and Akaashi agrees to go home and rest after some heartfelt cajoling from Koutarou. Tetsurou sees them to the door, and Kenma doesn’t say much even as he waves them goodbye.

“This sucks,” Koutarou says as the shop door closes. “I hate when he leaves.”

Kenma only hums, but Koutarou knows he understands.

“Okay, so,” Tetsurou says loudly, approaching the counter with a weird amount of caution, “just out of curiosity… what was the color of the potion you gave Akaashi?”

“Red?” Koutarou replies. Shouldn’t it be obvious? “That was weird though, Akaashi acted like it tasted horrible, and your mom’s magic doesn’t really have a flavor.”

Tetsurou laughs, but it sounds vaguely hysterical, so Koutarou is immediately on edge. “Low level shit like _healing potions_ don’t taste like much of anything. Oh my god, Bo, you just gave Akaashi a love potion.”

“What? No, I didn’t!” Koutarou is almost certain his best friend is just messing around with him, but… “I gave him the red one. Your mom always gave us those when we got sick as kids!”

“Um, _no,_ her medical potions are orange, not red. Red means heavy-duty shit. Red means _altering human consciousness._ ”

It takes a moment for the reality of what he’s just done to sink in, and when it does, Koutarou swears his stomach drops under the weight of his pretty monumental fuck-up. “I just – Did I really – _Tetsu!_ Why weren’t you watching me, this could’ve been avoided!”

“I was kind of busy!”

“Busy making goo-goo eyes at Tsukishima-kun,” says Kenma pointedly.

This is bad. This is _so bad._ Koutarou had promised that nothing would go wrong and then he went and completely screwed up. Akaashi’s cold won’t get better any quicker, and he’ll probably never trust Koutarou with anything else ever again!

“Oh, fuck, he’s gonna fall in love with someone,” Koutarou gasps, and that might just be the worst part of this entire thing, even worse than breaking his promise to Akaashi.

Tetsurou snorts, and he actually seems pretty amused, which makes him the worst. Worst person, worst friend, _worst shop owner ever._ “Oh, he’s gonna fall in love, alright. With the person who _gave_ him the potion.”

And that should be a good thing, right, since Koutarou’s been pining after Akaashi and his stupid perfect face for years? But no. It’s a horrible thing, because it won’t be real, and Koutarou would be completely taking advantage of a situation he caused by making a stupid mistake.

Koutarou is nearly whining as he says, “What will Akaashi say?”

“Well, I'm not telling him," Kenma declares, turning his attention back to his phone. "Don't worry, he'll probably be too infatuated with your biceps to punch you."

"He does have a point," Tetsurou says, and Koutarou buries his face in his hands with a groan. He really needs new friends.


End file.
